Absent Cuomo looms large over gubernatorial debate

Absent Cuomo looms large over gubernatorial debate

Hawkins, a three-time gubernatorial candidate, offered up familiar proposals to anyone who's followed the candidate in previous campaigns. He proposed 100 percent clean energy in the state by 2030, a project he noted would create "thousands" of jobs, and vowed to address harmful algae blooms, lead and other contaminants in the state's water. Many of his proposals, he said, could be paid for by raising taxes on the rich.

"Shame on Andrew Cuomo for not coming here," he said in his closing statement.

"The question in this election is, 'What kind of message are we going to send? Are we going to give Cuomo a free ride or are we going to demand more?'"

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By Bethany Bump

4 out of 5 candidates for governor face off in Albany Thursday

ALBANY — He wasn't physically there, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo's presence was hard to miss at the second and last gubernatorial debate Thursday at the College of Saint Rose five days before the general election.

First there was the screen: A smiling Cuomo appeared beside the animated faces of his four competitors on a large TV screen directly above the podiums where Marc Molinaro, Stephanie Miner, Howie Hawkins and Larry Sharpe debated in front of a crowd of roughly 100 people.

Then there was the introduction: Jeers rang out from the crowd when the League of Women Voters noted that only four of the five candidates agreed to Thursday's debate.

"I'm sorry, who's missing?" asked Sharpe in mock confusion.

And finally there was the content: For 90 minutes, candidates fielded questions about their plans for everything from economic development, education and environment to free college, gun rights and workplace sexual harassment. While their ideas for each differed, a palpable sense of frustration with what Molinaro dubbed the "Status Cuomo" was voiced by each candidate throughout the night.

According to his campaign, Cuomo spent Thursday night conducting a "tele-town hall" with select voters in the 5th Senate District on Long Island, which Democrats hope to flip from Republican control. The two-term incumbent and Democratic front runner enjoys a large fundraising advantage over the other four candidates and is ahead in the polls.

But his competitors chose to treat Thursday's debate as a chance to prove themselves to upstate New Yorkers, whose concerns they argued have been ignored by Cuomo over his eight years in office. A debate in New York City last week between Cuomo and Molinaro only mentioned upstate once, in a reference to the Buffalo Bills.

"Upstate needs to be shown the respect in state government it hasn't gotten in the last eight years," said Molinaro, the Republican candidate and former Assembly member who is Dutchess County executive.

Photo: Hans Pennink, AP

Candidates for governor of New York from left, Green Party Howie Hawkins, Independent Stephanie Miner, Moderator Laura Ladd Bierman, Libertarian Larry Sharpe, and Republican Marc Molinaro, participate in the ... more

One way to do that, he argued, would be for the state to take over the local share of Medicaid costs, which property taxes currently pay for. As governor, he said, he would orchestrate a 10- to 15-year state takeover of these costs, which he said would reduce local property taxes by 28 percent over five years.

Miner, a lifelong Democrat and former mayor of Syracuse running on the Serve America Movement line, also argued for a state takeover of local Medicaid costs. This would lessen the property tax burden on property owners, she said, and keep more people from leaving the state to live elsewhere.

Molinaro and Miner, the only two candidates with executive experience, also touted their histories of negotiating shared services across municipalities as a way to bring down costs — something they each said they would do if elected governor.

Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, said he would let local municipalities decide on their own whether they want to raise or lower property taxes, and do away with the governor's 2 percent property tax cap. Sharpe, the libertarian candidate, said he'd put the issue to residents, letting them vote each year whether they want to raise property taxes or not.

"It would be that simple," he said.

Sharpe, whose vocal followers filled many of the seats Thursday, stood out as the most radical candidate on the debate floor — often proposing to toss out programs, laws and regulations and start from scratch, where his fellow candidates were more likely to offer ideas for reform or improvement.

He proposed getting rid of 11th and 12th grade, for example, which he described as "study hall, gym, smoking weed and video games" for most kids and said the state should instead offer to pay families a lump sum at graduation that they could spend over seven years on prep school, trade school or college.

He proposed getting Google or Apple to pay for roads and bridges in exchange for branding and pledged that none of his plans would raise taxes.

Hawkins, a three-time gubernatorial candidate, offered up familiar proposals to anyone who's followed the candidate in previous campaigns. He proposed 100 percent clean energy in the state by 2030, a project he noted would create "thousands" of jobs, and vowed to address harmful algae blooms, lead and other contaminants in the state's water. Many of his proposals, he said, could be paid for by raising taxes on the rich.

"Shame on Andrew Cuomo for not coming here," he said in his closing statement.

"The question in this election is, 'What kind of message are we going to send? Are we going to give Cuomo a free ride or are we going to demand more?'"